The EI Podcast

Is the study of Latin in peril? And what does the future hold for the ancient inheritance? EI's Alastair Benn is joined by Daisy Dunn , classicist and author, Armand D’Angour , Professor of Classics at Oxford University, and Paul Lay , EI’s Senior Editor, to discuss the value of ancient languages. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . EI...

What happened in California in the 1970s played an outsized role in creating the world we live in today – both in the United States and in large parts of the globe – for better or worse. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: 1970s commercial airline advert. Credit: ClassicStock / Alamy Stock Photo 

At a time of moral and political crisis, the medieval poet pioneered a daring and emotive vernacular style which inspired generations of Italian literature. Read by Sebastian Brown. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: A sketch of Guittone d'Arezzo from the nineteenth century. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

While we may think we have moved beyond the censorship of the past, writers' artistic freedoms are still constrained. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence was the subject of a watershed obscenity trial. Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo.

EI's Angus Reilly discusses the history and legacy of the Vietnam War with Fredrik Logevall , author of Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . EI Talks... is produced by Alastair Benn . The sound engineer is Gareth Jones. Image: Photograph of American troops running...

The arc of history only bends towards justice when people of goodwill grab hold of it and wrench it in the direction of justice. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: The Freedom is Our Religion banner in Maidan Square, Kyiv. Credit: Ali Kerem Yucel / Alamy Stock Photo

His intense faith led Thomas Gage to switch his religious allegiance during the tumultuous 17th century - he went on to have an enormous impact on Britain's colonial future. Read by Sebastian Brown. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: Title Page from Thomas Gage's The English-American his travail by sea and land: or, A new surve...

Myths frame and tailor the past in a way that can ground and stabilise a community, however large or small. By situating them within the fabric of history, myths provide a sense of tradition and belonging to rally around. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: A statue of Romulus and Remus on the Capitoline Hil...

EI's Alastair Benn discusses how technology is transforming the world of sport with Daisy Christodoulou , education expert and author of I Can't Stop Thinking About VAR , an eloquent examination of the use of the video assistant referee (VAR) system in football. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . EI Talks... is hosted by Paul Lay and...

With deterrence and compellence becoming more crucial than they have been in over three decades, understanding what makes foreign leaders tick is of the utmost importance. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Silhouettes of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Credit: KLYONA / Alamy Stock Photo 

Andrew Roberts profiles Brendan Bracken , Winston Churchill's faithful and most trusted political adviser. Read by Sebastian Brown. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: Winston Churchill leaving Downing Street with Brendan Bracken. Credit:: Fremantle / Alamy Stock Photo 

EI's Angus Reilly discusses the life and legacy of Henry Kissinger with Thomas A. Schwartz , author of Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . EI Talks... is produced by Alastair Benn . The sound engineer is Gareth Jones. Image: President Gerald Ford and US Secretary of State Henry...

Gustaf Mannerheim's rise from a troubled youth to Finland's great wartime leader illustrates how leadership is forged by both personal traits and the unpredictable tides of history. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, centre, discusses strategy against the Russians at hi...

EI's Paul Lay discusses how the Baltic states have survived, and thrived, in the shadow of Russian aggression, with Kristjan Prikk , Estonia's Ambassador to the United States and Eitvydas Bajarūnas , a former Lithuanian senior diplomat, who has served as the Ambassador to Sweden, Russia and the UK. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . E...

Australia stands at the forefront of democratic resistance against China's expanding influence, reshaping its strategy and alliances to meet the challenges of a contested Indo-Pacific. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: Two US Air Force B-2 Spirits fly alongside four Royal Australian Air Force EA-18G Growle...

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 offered opportunities to reset relations between East and West. EI's Paul Lay discusses how these opportunities were squandered with Mary Elise Sarotte , Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Distinguished Professor of Historical Studies at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation f...

Konrad Adenauer combined Realpolitik and German values and interests with international cooperation. The multilaterally integrated, co-operative nation state he championed was a fundamental innovation in European history. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: German statesman Konrad Adenauer depicted on a coin...

Maria Golia profiles Carl Akeley , an inventor, sculptor, and taxidermist. His life's lessons still echo in the effort to conserve wildlife. Read by Sebastian Brown. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: Wildlife photographer Carl Ethan Akeley photographed in 1926. Credit: Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery / Public Domain

EI’s Angus Reilly is joined by Luke A. Nichter , author of The Year that Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968, to discuss Lyndon B. Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, and the battle for the future of America in a year that offers notable parallels to the election of 2024. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Pub...

The emergence of Artificial Intelligence capable of deducing human intentions signals a new frontier in technology that could transform the world of strategy, diplomacy and warfare. Read by Helen Lloyd. TV screens showing the live broadcast of the Google DeepMind Challenge Match at Yongsan Electronic Technology Land in Seoul, South Korea. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

EI's Alastair Benn is joined by Marina E. Henke , Professor of International Relations at the Hertie School, Berlin, to discuss how Europe can defend itself from the latest threats and thrive in a contested world. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . EI Talks... is hosted by Paul Lay and Alastair Benn . The sound engineer is Gareth Jone...

If Russia is allowed to walk away with any of its ill-gotten gains in Ukraine, the deterrent power of the United States and the transatlantic alliance will be lost. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The flags of the United States and Ukraine flying side by side. Credit: Todd Bannor / Alamy Stock Photo 

Adrian Wooldridge profiles Philippa Fawcett , the first female Senior Wrangler at Cambridge University and a trailblazer for women's achievement in a nascent meritocratic society. Read by Sebastian Brown. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . Image: 1890 engraving of Philippa Fawcett, the first female Senior Wrangler. Credit: Universal H...

The study of statecraft would profit by spending less time on ‘should’ and more time on ‘how’. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Woodrow Wilson delivering a Christmas address to soldiers of the A.E.F. Langres, Haute Marne, France, December 1918. Credit: Hum Images / Alamy Stock Photo

EI's Paul Lay is joined by Dmitri Alperovitch, leading geopolitical analyst, entrepreneur, and co-founder and chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, to discuss the parallels between US-Soviet rivalry and that of the US and China. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit . EI Talks... is hosted by Paul Lay and Alastair Benn . The sound engi...